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Why an Employed Learnership Is the Smart Solution for Business Growth & Skills Development
By Eunéne Levine, CEO of Shaper – 30 August 2025
In today’s competitive business environment, companies face multiple talent challenges at once: a shortage of experienced candidates, rising expectations for skills, and the imperative of transformation. Instead of searching externally for perfect hires, a smarter move is often to invest in the talent you already have, or to build it purposefully from day-one.
In this post we’ll explore what an employed learnership is, why it offers unique value for businesses, how it has delivered real results, and how you can set up one with Shaper to achieve both operational and transformation goals.
1. What is an Employed Learnership?
An employed learnership is a structured training programme in which an employee (or candidate) is registered on an accredited qualification (often aligned to the National Qualifications Framework, NQF) while working within a business environment. They combine formal learning with practical workplace experience. For a business this offers:
- Skills development and upskilling of existing staff or new recruits.
- On-the-job learning, which reinforces skills with real practice.
- Alignment with transformation and B-BBEE scorecard goals (skills development, youth employment, etc.).
Why It’s a Smart Solution for Business Challenges
- Closing the Experience Gap Many businesses struggle with candidates who have qualifications but lack practical workplace experience. Employed learnerships bridge that gap: the learner develops in your context, within your operations.
- Retention & Loyalty By investing in your people, you show commitment to their future. This often correlates with higher loyalty, lower staff turnover, and improved morale.
- Transformation & Compliance Value Skills development points, youth employment, learnership participation — all factor into transformation or B-BBEE compliance. An employed learnership ticks multiple boxes.
- Talent Pipeline Creation Rather than hope for perfect external hires, you’re creating a pipeline of talent tailored to your business needs, culture and workflows.
How to Set Up an Employed Learnership with Shaper
- Initial Consultation – We meet to understand your business goals, staff profile, and skills gaps.
- Programme Design – Shaper aligns an accredited qualification, workplace mentors, and content with your operational context.
- Implementation & Workplace Integration – Learners are placed, learning begins, mentors support them in the business environment.
- Monitoring & Support – Shaper provides ongoing tracking, coaching, and ensures learners are progressing.
- Placement & Outcome – On completion, learners are either absorbed by the business or placed through Shaper’s network, ensuring the investment yields results.
One of our key value-propositions: every learner is placed, whether within your operation or via Shaper’s network, reducing risk for your business.
Final Thoughts: The Business Case for Learning-Led Growth
Transforming your workforce isn’t just a compliance exercise. It’s a strategic move. When you choose to develop your people through an employed learnership, you’re not just checking boxes, you’re building capability, creating value, and setting your business up for sustainable growth. So this week, ask yourself: What if instead of looking outward, you looked inward, to the talent you already have, and invested in its growth? If you’re serious about creating a high-performing, future-ready workforce, Shaper’s employed learnerships might just be the game-changer your business needs.
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We develop future-ready professionals by equipping talent with in-demand skills and real-world experience to drive workforce growth and impact.
We develop future-ready professionals by equipping talent with in-demand skills and real-world experience to drive workforce growth and impact.